Electronics retailer Best Buy cuts 950 jobs in Canada

American electronics retailer Best Buy announced Thursday it will lay off 950 staff at its struggling Canadian stores and focus more on its burgeoning online sales.

The announcement followed reportedly dismal sales during the key Christmas holiday period, and increased competition from discount stores such as Wal-Mart and online retailers, including Amazon.com.

"We have seen our online sales grow by more than 50 percent in the past year and new services such as in-store reserve and pick-up more than doubling," Best Buy Canada president Ron Wilson said in a statement.

"These changes in the way our customers are interacting with us have led us to look at how to best deploy our staff to meet those evolving needs."

As part of the restructuring, Best Buy said it will consolidate sales departments and reduce management layers at its 265 Future Shop and Best Buy stores and kiosks across Canada.